Mike Flanagan and Scarlett Johansson’s The Exorcist Snags Another MCU Star
Universal’s 2027 Exorcist revival just summoned another MCU star, with Mike Flanagan adding fresh franchise firepower alongside Scarlett Johansson.
Mike Flanagan is quietly building a stacked Exorcist movie, and the latest addition is a heavy hitter: Laurence Fishburne. Universal has this one planted on the 2027 calendar, and the talent lineup is starting to look like a genre event.
Laurence Fishburne joins Flanagan's Exorcist
Fishburne has signed on to the untitled Exorcist film Flanagan is making for Universal. That makes him the third alum from the Marvel machine in this cast, alongside Scarlett Johansson and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Fun wrinkle for a demonic possession story.
- Scarlett Johansson — led the charge as Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff in the MCU
- Chiwetel Ejiofor — Karl Mordo in the Doctor Strange movies
- Laurence Fishburne — Dr. Bill Foster in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- Diane Lane — on board in a key role
- Jacobi Jupe — part of the ensemble
Fishburne needs no intro, but here is the quick refresher: Morpheus in the original Matrix trilogy, the Bowery King in the John Wick films, and credits across every era, including Apocalypse Now (1979), Boyz n the Hood (1991), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), Mystic River (2003), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Predators (2010), Contagion (2011), Man of Steel (2013), Megalopolis (2024), and The Amateur (2025).
What kind of Exorcist is this?
Flanagan is steering a fresh take, separate from the 2023 film The Exorcist: Believer. That one was meant to launch a new trilogy, but the plan was shelved after the movie underperformed at the box office and was received poorly by most audiences and critics. Character details on Flanagan's version are under wraps, and plot specifics are being kept close.
Release timing and where Flanagan is coming from
Universal Pictures will release the untitled Exorcist movie in US theaters on March 12, 2027. Flanagan, the filmmaker behind The Haunting of Hill House (2018) and The Life of Chuck (2024), has been busy elsewhere too: his remake of Carrie — reimagined as a Prime Video miniseries — wrapped production in October 2025.